Time will reveal how the battle over a border wall ultimately concludes but in the meantime it’s the American public that’s suffering from a lack of urgency from both parties in Washington. A wall simply makes too much sense to abandon – Trump must stick to his guns.

I was not always a fan. For most of the 2016 campaign, I supported Ted Cruz, a choice that many thought only marginally less bad than Mr Trump. You may not like President Trump’s taste in ties or steak, his tweets or his curious rhetoric. But fair-minded observers should find a lot to like in the results of his pragmatic, non-ideological approach to the nation’s — and the world’s — security and prosperity.

Speaker Ryan’s comments that the House would only take up a bill that President Trump supports puts to rest (at least for the moment) conservative concerns that the open-borders oriented Ryan might try to force through an amnesty bill. Trump’s rejection of the McCain – Coons amnesty plan puts the pressure back on the Republican Senate to pass a bill that meets the President’s requirements.

More civility in politics would be a good thing but it also has its limitations. If lawmakers care more about being nice to each other than they do about advocating for their constituents the battle is already lost; there would be many chummy politicians in DC but hardly any happy Americans.

President Trump campaigned on policies that would boot the economy to 4 percent – or greater – growth. Now, just when America’s hard-pressed middle-income families are beginning to see the benefits of Trump’s policies, is not the time for the Fed to cool the economy.

Sooner or later the “Devil’s advocates” in each party become recognizable for what they are: contrarian voices that people more or less ignore. All the pseudo-Russia scandals in the world won’t make a difference in the long run because one way or another truth always comes to light.

Trump ended his SOTU by hailing people from all walks of life, saying, “above all else, they are Americans. And this Capitol, this city, and this Nation, belong to them.” If he resolved to routinely live up to that sentiment, he would do himself, and our political culture, immeasurable good. In political terms, it isn’t Trump the alleged tool of the Russians or Trump the budding dictator whom Democrats have to fear most; it’s Trump the nationalist unifier.

Many suggest Donald Trump is teaching Republicans how to win; everyone knows they could use a little schooling in the art of closing the deal. If the GOP continues to follow Trump’s lead in passing the MAGA agenda, winning will be contagious indeed.

President Trump’s first State of the Union address set a new standard. For himself. If he lives up to that standard in future speeches, he may go far in changing his image from a blustering, ad-libbing “entertainer,” to someone who looks and sounds, shall I say it, more “presidential.” If he maintains the discipline he demonstrated Monday, Mr. Trump’s approval ratings and his chances of getting some of his agenda passed in Congress may quickly improve.

Perhaps in the end, conservatives should ignore Trump's character defects and take the wins; I certainly cheer those wins. Perhaps in the end, Trump's character will poison the wins themselves; we won't know that for years. We do know, however, that if we believe the president has two roles — one as a policymaker, the other as a moral model — then President Trump can only be half-successful so long as he refuses to change himself.

John McCain’s 2008 opposition research file on Mitt Romney – all 200 pages of it – ended-up on the internet. God bless whoever posted it, because it makes truly compelling reading and it shows conclusively that Mitt Romney’s greatest talent as a candidate is his ability to keep every hair in place while not telling the truth.

There’s no doubt politicians have a habit of saying stupid things that get themselves and their parties in trouble on a regular basis. In times like these it would be better for political folks to say nothing at all; if that were the case America would be the envy of the entire world, indeed.

No president can tell Congress what to tell or not to tell the American people, or not to subpoena your documents, or not to put you in jail if you don’t comply. Maybe if you had not slapped your lawful boss around with your pretense of “independence,” if you had come to him confessing your sins and humbly asking his indulgence, you might not be in this fix. Now you are asking for a “get out of jail” card, which he probably can’t give you even if he wanted to.

While Trump Republicanism has elements of other party traditions, its dominant tone is nationalist. That puts the Democratic Party, now suffused with Trump hatred and a simmering urge to relitigate or overturn the 2016 election, in danger of positioning itself as anti-nationalist. The withering contempt of many coastal Democrats for heartland Americans, who regard patriotism as normal and benign, is probably not a political asset.

Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi watching Trump's speech looked like a pair of sullen six-year olds on a sugar crash the day after Halloween. Bernie Sanders looked mummified. Schumer was slumped so deeply in his chair he was almost falling through the crack. Other Democrats, even ones who should have known better or secretly felt otherwise, sat on their hands. You could see them glancing at each other, wondering whether they were allowed to applaud or stand up. What a bunch of cowards.

There was one very important “this changes everything” moment in President Trump’s State of the Union message that no one is talking about – the President’s announcement that he has signed an Executive Order on Protecting America Through Lawful Detention of Terrorists.

Trump supporters couldn’t be clearer: 71% of his base they will no longer support the President if amnesty is included in immigration reform. However, they also said they are confident President Trump will follow-through on his campaign promises regarding immigration.

Trump’s SOTU address wasn’t perfect but it deserved a better reception from roughly half of those in attendance. Democrats didn’t do themselves any favors by acting like spoiled children in front of the whole world. Americans aren’t unified – but the right side is winning.

America also saw evidence last night that Trump’s bet may be his best chance. The Dems who came to hear the president looked like the unhappiest people on Earth. They rarely stood and applauded, except when it would have been embarrassing not to. Even when the president touted the lowest African-American unemployment in history, the party that produced the first black president and has on the lock on the black vote gave a collective scowl.

There were many things conservatives could applaud in last night’s State of the Union address, but the President’s eloquent paean to the economic promise of America was largely drowned-out by opposition to the notion of giving a path to citizenship to 1.8 million illegal aliens.